Obituary of Eileen R. Maloy

Eileen Alicia Reynolds was born on Wednesday, July 20th, 1927 to Mary Jane (O’Donovan-Rossa) Reynolds and James J. Reynolds, in Port Chester, New York. Her beloved sister, Patricia arrived in the family not long after, in 1931. The sisters came into the world as proud granddaughters of Fenian Irish patriots and political exiles, Jeremiah and Mary Jane (Irwin) O’Donovan-Rossa.

As a child, Eileen lived in Port Chester surrounded by loving family members of both parents. After the tragic death of her father, James Reynolds in 1933, her mother took on work as the social secretary for James J. Speyer, a recent German immigrant banker and philanthropist, in Manhattan.  

Eileen attended Catholic elementary and high schools in Port Chester. After high school, she enrolled in the Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School and worked in the offices of Elle Magazine, in Manhattan. She spent many sunny summers at Cedar Grove Beach Club on Staten Island, where her mother and several aunts owned bungalows. Eileen’s love of the seashore and sun endured for the rest of her life. She also met her future husband, US Army veteran John F. Maloy, at Cedar Grove Beach. Jack took Eileen and her delighted mom up in his T-6 Texan and Aeronica small planes many times during their courtship.

Eileen and Jack married on May 27, 1950. They quickly created a raucous family of six daughters: Gail (Musnicki), Brenda, Lisa (George), Jane (Antenna), Maureen and Lizabeth (Wiemken). Eileen spent their childhoods diligently bringing all of her children to lessons of every sort, keeping scrupulous track of the academic and athletic progress of each, and acting as PTA president for several of their schools.  She was a staunch advocate for public education.

When she was 54 years old, her daughter’s young adults, Eileen fulfilled a long held goal and went to college. As a true bibliophile, she had always loved reading, writing and learning. She thrived in the academic atmosphere of CUNY’s College of Staten Island despite being older than most of her classmates. Eileen loved talking about the fascinating books she was reading and her keenly knowledgeable professors. She received her BA in English from CSI in 1986. Eileen made sure to share her love of books with all of her children; two of her daughters (Gail and Lisa) became librarians.
 

Later in life, Eileen rejoined the workforce as a secretary in the Student Affairs Office at CSI.  Her work there for 9 years kept her current with the next generation of learners and their issues. Feeling immense admiration and love for her parents and grandparents, Eileen made several trips to Ireland throughout her long life.  She became a great resource for the books, essays, news articles and films that were created about both Jeremiah and Mary Jane O’Donovan-Rossa.

After the untimely passing of her much-loved husband, Jack, in 2006, Eileen moved from Staten Island to New Jersey to live with her youngest daughter, Lizabeth and her family. Despite the gradual loss of her eyesight, she spent the years after Jack’s death staying extremely busy with her grandchildren, great grandchildren, continual family events, senior center activities and (of course) reading with the help of the US Library of Congress, National Library for the Blind. Her Catholic faith sustained her throughout life’s inevitable difficulties.
 

Eileen Reynolds Maloy passed from this Earth on Thursday, November 21, 2024.  She is lovingly remembered, terribly missed and survived by her six daughters, ten grandchildren (Jaime Musnicki, Meghan Musnicki, Thomas Missig, Rebecca Missig, Tiffany Sams, Kieran Micka-Maloy, Jack Kranz, Ryan Wiemken, Lauren Lockett and Jason Wiemken) and eleven great grandchildren. May she rest in peace and love.

A visitation will be held at the Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home, 100 Elton – Adelphia Road (Route 524), Freehold Township on Tuesday, December 3, 2024 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. Relatives and friends are invited to her 11:00 AM Funeral Mass on Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at St. William the Abott, 2740 Lakewood – Allenwood Road, Howell. For information, directions, or to leave condolence messages, please visit www.claytonfuneralhome.com .